Burst The Bubble in Review – A Rotating Bubble Popping Bonanza

The key to any good casual or “pick up and play” type of game is addictive gameplay and frustration-free controls. Not to mention, something that is challenging enough to keep you interested, yet not so difficult that you feel the need to yank all your hair out. Burst The Bubble, developed by NotOnlyButAlso, is the latest casual (bubble popping) game I’ve gotten my hands on. Read on to see how it did and find out if my proverbial bubble was burst.

On launch it is evident just how simple the design of the game is; you’ll see your 2 selections up front and nothing more. Everything about Burst the Bubble’s look and feel is clean and smooth. You have a black background with a gray circle where the bubbles come out of and the various colored bubbles themselves. Like I said before, simple. Which in a game like this is just what you want.

To play, you tilt the iDevice to move the circle where the bubbles come out of and you simply tap the bubbles to pop ’em. The catch is that you can only burst bubbles of the same color (surprise!) and only when they are touching. That said, you have to be careful when you move around so as not to put yourself in a strategically bad position.

Even though the premise (and controls) of the game is simple enough, you still have to stay on your toes. Once you begin, the bubbles will constantly grow in size and new ones are always appearing. There isn’t even a break between levels, which could be a good (or not so good) thing, depending on just how fast paced you want your games. You also have to make sure to keep on top of your bubble popping because when they touch the sides of the grey circle, your score is reduced. Let that happen too many times and it’s game over.

If you do end up losing, you have a few options available to you: you can play again, send your score to the online leaderboard or email a friend. I was pleasantly surprised to find those options available, since something as simple as an online leaderboard isn’t always implemented in these types of pick up and play games. Having one will undoubtedly help encourage players to come back for more.

In the end I definitely recommend this to anyone who is as much a fan of casual games as I am. Even though this is one of my shorter reviews, that is definitely not a reflection of the game. With the perfect mix of simple controls and addictive gameplay, this is yet another app that has earned itself a permanent spot on my iPhone 3GS.